David Robert Joseph Beckham (1975)
}} Early life Beckham was born at Whipps Cross University Hospital in Leytonstone, London, England. He is the son of Sandra Georgina (née West; b. 1949), a hairdresser, and David Edward Alan "Ted" Beckham (b. Edmonton, London, July–September 1948), a kitchen fitter, who married at the London Borough of Hackney in 1969.Julie Burchill (2012). On Beckham". Random House, He has an older sister, Lynne Georgina, and a younger sister, Joanne Louise. He regularly played football in Ridgeway Park, Chingford, as a child, and attended Chase Lane Primary School and Chingford County High School.Arts Council England, School puts the arts at the heart of learning, 21 October 2008 In a 2007 interview, Beckham said that, "At school whenever the teachers asked, 'What do you want to do when you're older?' I'd say, 'I want to be a footballer.' And they'd say, 'No, what do you really want to do, for a job?' But that was the only thing I ever wanted to do." Beckham's maternal grandfather was Jewish, and Beckham has referred to himself as "half Jewish" and wrote in his autobiography "I've probably had more contact with Judaism than with any other religion".Jewish funeral for Beckham's grandfather, By Jessica Elgot, 10 December 2009 In his book Both Feet on the Ground, he stated that growing up he attended church every week with his parents, because that was the only way he could play football for their team. His parents were fanatical Manchester United supporters who would frequently travel to Old Trafford from London to attend the team's home matches. David inherited his parents' love of Manchester United, and his main sporting passion was football. He attended one of Bobby Charlton's football schools in Manchester and won the chance to take part in a training session with Barcelona, as part of a talent competition. He played for a local youth team called Ridgeway Rovers – coached by his father, Stuart Underwood and Steve Kirby. Beckham was a Manchester United mascot for a match against West Ham United in 1986. Young Beckham had trials with his local club Leyton Orient, Norwich City and attended Tottenham Hotspur's school of excellence. Tottenham Hotspur was the first club he played for. During a two-year period in which Beckham played for Brimsdown Rovers' youth team, he was named Under-15 Player of the Year in 1990. He also attended Bradenton Preparatory Academy, but signed schoolboy forms at Manchester United on his 14th birthday, and subsequently signed a Youth Training Scheme contract on 8 July 1991. Personal life at the 2007 British Grand Prix at Silverstone]] In 1997, Beckham started dating Victoria Adams, after she attended a Manchester United match. She was famously known as "Posh Spice" of the pop music group Spice Girls, one of the world's top pop groups at the time, and his team was also enjoying a great run of success. Therefore, their relationship instantly attracted a great deal of media attention. The couple were dubbed "Posh and Becks" by the media. He proposed to her on 24 January 1998 in a restaurant in Cheshunt, England. On 4 July 1999, David and Victoria married at Luttrellstown Castle in Ireland. Beckham's team-mate Gary Neville was the best man, and the couple's infant son, Brooklyn, was the ring bearer. The media were kept away from the ceremony, as the Beckhams had an exclusive deal with OK! Magazine, but newspapers were still able to obtain photographs showing them sitting on golden thrones. 437 staff were employed for the wedding reception, which was estimated to have cost £500,000. David and Victoria Beckham have four children: sons Brooklyn Joseph (born 4 March 1999), Romeo James (born 1 September 2002 in London), and Cruz David (born 20 February 2005 in Madrid; the word "cruz" is Spanish for "cross"); and daughter Harper Seven (born 10 July 2011, in Los Angeles).Byrne, Alla and Perry, Simon Elton John is godfather to Brooklyn and Romeo Beckham; their godmother is Elizabeth Hurley. Beckham's three sons have all played football in the Arsenal Academy."David Beckham and son Brooklyn 'shaken' after car crash following Arsenal training session". The Telegraph. Retrieved 29 November 2014 Like their father, Brooklyn and Romeo have both done modelling work and been named among GQ's best dressed British men. Beckham's eldest son Brooklyn previously played football for Arsenal U16, but was released at the end of the 2014–15 season."Brooklyn Beckham set to be released by Arsenal already". Eurosport. Retrieved 14 November 2015 In his early Manchester United career, Beckham lived in a four-bedroom house in Worsley that he bought directly from the property developer as a 20-year-old in 1995. In 1999, the Beckhams purchased their most famous home in Hertfordshire, unofficially dubbed Beckingham Palace, for £2.5 million, but subsequently sold it to insurance entrepreneur Neil Utley for £11.3 million in March 2014. In January 2014, they purchased a £45 million house in Holland Park, London, on which they spent a further £3 million renovating before moving in. Beckham suffers from obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), which he says makes him "have everything in a straight line or everything has to be in pairs." Victoria Beckham claims, "If you open our fridge, it's all co-ordinated down either side. We've got three fridges – food in one, salad in another and drinks in the third. In the drinks one, everything is symmetrical. If there's three cans, he'll throw one away because it has to be an even number." Affair claims In April 2004, the British tabloid News of the World carried claims by Beckham's former personal assistant Rebecca Loos that he and Loos had an extramarital affair. A week later, the Malaysian-born Australian model Sarah Marbeck claimed that she had slept with Beckham on two occasions. Beckham dismissed both accusations as "ludicrous". In September 2010, Beckham announced that he was making a court application against prostitute Irma Nici and several others over claims in the magazine In Touch that he had sex with her. Although the magazine later accepted that the allegations against Beckham were untrue, his court application was dismissed under US freedom of speech laws. References Books * * * * * * Internet